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Manningtree has traditionally claimed to be the smallest town in England, and in 2007 mayor Lee Lay-Flurrie said that this had been confirmed to her by the Census Customer Services, with 700 people in 20 hectares[2] (using the high tide mark). However both this figure and the population of 900[1] in the civil parish is much higher than the 351 population of Fordwich in Kent.[3] In April 2009 it was proposed that Manningtree should merge with Mistley and Lawford to form a single parish, losing its separate identity as a town.[4]

The name Manningtree is thought to derive from 'many trees'.[5] The town grew around the wool trade from the 15th century under its decline in the 18th century and also had a thriving shipping trade in corn, timber and coal until this declined with the coming of the railway.[5] Manningtree is known as the centre of the activities of Matthew Hopkins, the self-appointed Witchfinder General, who claimed to have overheard local women discussing their meetings with the devil in 1644 with his accusations leading to their execution as witches.[5]

Many of the buildings in the centre of the town have Georgian facades which obscure their earlier origins. Notable buildings include the town's library, which was originally built as, 'a public hall for the purposes of corn exchange' and was later used around 1900 for public entertainment,[5] and the oldest Methodist church in Essex, located on South Street.

The Ascension, by John Constable, which hangs in Dedham church, was painted for Manningtree church, pulled down in the 1960s.